The Doll House
SAITAMA 2018
1 Hunters and Gatherers
What should you expect from a private dinner invitation? A lot, perhaps—but definitely not this. The dinner was arranged through a mutual friend who insisted, "You have to see this man’s house." Following his gracious invitation, we met at his place for dinner—tempura, a spread of fried vegetables and fish.
1 The House
The man, as my friend had already mentioned, was rumored to have married a sex doll. It turned out he wasn’t just married to a sex doll—he was an avid collector of them. Alongside his unconventional companions, his home featured an assortment of peculiar gadgets, all meticulously arranged across two living rooms to recreate the ambiance of European fairy tales.
3 The Dolls
He must have amassed a collection of ten dolls in total.
These dolls are entirely manufactured in Japan by a company called Orient Industry. While most customers are based in Japan, there is a growing market in China. The price for a single doll with silicone skin starts at ¥400,000. The company previously offered customized dolls with faces modeled after a provided reference, but this service was discontinued due to ethical reasons.
Once, the man told me, someone came in the night and stole three of his dolls. Luckily, the thieve didn’t abduct the man’s wife.
